One-dimensional interest?

Applying to College
1

<p>I’ve been getting a head start on looking into admission requirements for specific colleges and have a couple questions…</p>

<li><p>One application I’ve come across has asked for a “brief essay” describing how the school is a match for your educational goals…about how long should this brief essay be?</p></li>
<li><p>I’m really passionate about art and it’s kind of been the one thing I’ve been really involved with in high school. I won an award at my school in digital photography and I plan on forming an art club next year. I wrote one of my college essays about photography, being that it is my main interest and I plan to major in it. I think it turned out well and am hoping to use it for most, if not all of my college applications. However, I also will be describing my educational goals related to photography in the above-mentioned essay and how that particular school would fulfill them, as well as listing art as one of my main extracurriculars. In the common application (I’ll be using this for most schools), there’s a section in which to elaborate on one of your ECs…guess what mine is?</p></li>
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<p>I’m just worried that colleges will see me as being very one-dimensional, when I am actually very interested in many other subjects that I haven’t really gotten a chance to express through ECs. My school doesn’t have a lot of clubs - I’ve been involved in a community service club that isn’t super active - and I guess I haven’t expressed my well-rounded interests in the electives I’ve taken. Should I just suck it up and write another essay so my application is not so repetitive, or should I elaborate on a different activity…I’ve been a chorus member in all of our school’s musicals so far (kind of a minor role, but involvement all the same), and I joined my school’s auditioned concert choir junior year. I’m going to be in concert choir senior year also, as well as being in an advanced auditioned ensemble which meets before school. I haven’t taken on any leadership roles in either of these areas and I don’t feel that they are as strong as my visual arts involvement. Plus, writing about visual arts would give me a chance to tell admissions that I started an art club at my school, which must count for something, right? Especially since I’m not really much of a leader.</p>

<p>I guess I’m just torn between taking the easy way out and being one-dimensional, or writing about something that I’m less interested in and possibly less motivated to write about and being more well-rounded. Does anyone have any opinions about this and suggestions on what I should do?</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>However long it takes to explain your answer well, and no more. That should be about a few paragraphs. They probably want the essay to be shorter than the personal essay, which should be around 500 words.</p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately I can’t see the application and decide. You should look at your application one day and ask yourself, does this application, which is essentially a portrait of you, give a good representation of who you are? And then decide from there. I don’t think you should change the topic of your essay.</p></li>
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3

<p>thanks, dchow08</p>

<p>Does this essay need to be as polished and well written as the general admissions essay? Do I need to make the supplemental essay stand out, or do colleges generally look for the straightforward reasons why you want to attend their school and rather look for a certain level of writing skill in the regular admission essay?</p>

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<p>Mine were all pretty straightforward. I think that they just want honest reasons why you’re interested so much in the school. That’s what the Swarthmore admissions dean told me.</p>

5

<p>So were mine. Nothing creative in them, really.</p>

<p>As for having a single passion - even Harvard says that they are looking for “well-lopsided” people as well as “well-rounded” people, so I don’t think that appearing one-sided should be a huge problem. Of course, if you have accomplishments in other areas, don’t forget to mention them as well - it won’t hurt.</p>

6

<p>Thanks!
It’s good to hear that even Harvard looks for students with a single passion. Besides, the schools I’ll likely be applying to are definitely not on that level of prestige.</p>